BS BULLETIN:
- An Obama-appointed federal judge says the U.S. Postal Service violated her court order by finalizing Trump’s controversial new mail-ballot rules.
- Judge Indira Talwani accused the administration of having “feigned complete compliance” with an injunction while moving ahead with the rulemaking process.
- But there’s a twist: Talwani declined to punish the administration or block publication of the final rule, leaving the larger election fight very much alive.
The Trump administration’s escalating mail-ballot battle just produced a remarkable accusation from the federal bench.
You didn’t misunderstand my order. You violated it.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani ruled Tuesday that the Postal Service violated her injunction when it finalized regulations implementing President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting mail-in voting.
And Talwani wasn’t particularly gentle about how she believes the government handled it. The administration argued that it complied with her injunction because the final USPS rule explicitly says the contested provisions won’t be implemented for November’s midterm elections while her order remains in effect.
Talwani rejected that argument in her written ruling.
“These arguments ignore the court’s explicit directive not to ‘initiat[e] or complet[e]’ rulemaking.”
Then she went further.
“And Defendants cannot contend that they misunderstood the scope of the court’s order.”
Talwani said in the ruling that the administration had previously “feigned complete compliance” with a related injunction when asking the Supreme Court for emergency relief.
That’s a pretty extraordinary word for a federal judge to use about the government’s behavior.
The dispute centers on Trump’s March executive order directing federal agencies to make sweeping changes involving mail-in voting. Among other things, the plan would have the Department of Homeland Security develop lists of citizens eligible to vote and require USPS to use those lists when handling the distribution of mail ballots.
Trump argues the changes are necessary to protect election integrity. Voting-rights groups and Democratic-led states argue the president is attempting to exercise power over elections that the Constitution gives to states and Congress. Talwani sided with challengers earlier this month, issuing a nationwide injunction that froze the Postal Service provisions.
As The Daily BS reported at the time, Talwani concluded that “the executive branch has no authority to regulate elections” and blocked USPS from enforcing the contested safeguards ahead of November. The Supreme Court then handed Trump a significant victory Monday, lifting a separate injunction brought by 23 states and the District of Columbia.
But that decision didn’t eliminate Talwani’s order in this separate case. Which brings us to the Postal Service’s final rule. USPS published the regulations despite Talwani’s instruction not to initiate or complete the rulemaking process. The administration maintained that publication wasn’t the same thing as implementation.
Talwani wasn’t buying it. But what she did next may be just as interesting as her accusation. She didn’t sanction anyone. And she didn’t stop USPS from publishing the rule. Reuters reported Tuesday that Talwani declined the challengers’ request for additional relief because her existing injunction already prevents USPS from implementing the contested provisions.
So we now have the unusual situation of a federal judge formally declaring: Yes, you violated my order.
No, I’m not imposing a new penalty for doing it. And the final rule can still be published. The legal war isn’t ending there.
The Supreme Court itself made clear Monday that its ruling didn’t necessarily mean whatever the administration ultimately does to implement Trump’s order will be lawful. The majority wrote in its order that “time will tell” whether future implementation measures survive legal scrutiny.
The three liberal justices dissented. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson warned in her dissent that the majority was injecting “chaos and uncertainty” into the approaching midterm elections. Talwani’s ruling now ensures there will be plenty more litigation to go around.
DBS WIRE SOURCES:
- Just the News — Federal judge says USPS ‘feigned’ compliance with stay on mail-in ballot rule
- Reuters — Judge chides US Postal Service over mail-in voting rule but won’t block it
- Axios — Trump administration violated court order on mail-voting rules, judge says
- Washington Post — Judge issues setback to Trump administration plans to restrict mail-in ballots
